(1984 Newbery Honor Book) This third in Cynthia Voigt's Tillerman Cycle, for readers 12 and up, tells a story parallel to her Newbery Award winner Dicey's Song. Jeff Greene was only seven when he came home from school to find a note from his mother Melanie, who felt that the world needed her more than her "grown up" son did, and so left him in Maryland with his emotionally reserved father. Years later, when she invites Jeff to spend the summer with her in Charleston, he is captivated by Melanie's free spirit and affection and filled with long-missing happiness. But their second summer ends with another betrayal, and the heartbroken boy descends into alienation and depression, until he meets the Tillermans.